


Red Desert

by jenlouniverse



Series: CALM's stories [1]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Adventures, Band, Demons, Growing Up, Love, Nostalgia, Other, Pain, Quest, Red Desert, Song Fiction, australia the home country, calm, came to me at 2am, can be any of them, i tried to put lyrics in the works, i'm so proud of these boys, it has everything, listen to the album, they're in italic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:42:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23681815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenlouniverse/pseuds/jenlouniverse
Summary: First song from CALM: Red Desert.A quest to know oneself a little better and trying to leave the past behind.
Series: CALM's stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1705273
Kudos: 2





	Red Desert

_Day 1:_

_6 am to 11pm (and more)_

He had to do it. He was born in this country but never had the chance to go. Yet. And after what had been said on the news, that it would close soon and, permanently, he had to do it.

5 am. His _backpack_ was done from the previous day, waiting for him at the end of his bed. He was ready. The sun was barely up when he closed his front door behind him, the town quiet and still. The young man, almost twenty years old, took a deep inhale while looking both to his left and right before opening his garage, facing his car.

His keys in his right hand, a smile appeared on his face. For the first time in a while, he realised. He understood he was ready. That now it made sense. Much more sense than if he had done it a few years ago.

He drove through his home town, going through empty streets as the sun rose on the horizon, just behind the so famous bridge. The ride would be long but, he didn't mind, he had a lot to think about. Too much most of the time. At least, while he was driving, he could concentrate on the road and forget a little about these invading thoughts that seemed to always come when he was on his own. Which was 90% of the time.

After driving for the whole day and a few breaks along the way, the old teenager finally made a stop for the night. The sky had been dark for a few hours now, the sun setting just as he crossed the frontier of New South Wales, entering the state of South Australia. He was already further from where he had ever been before. He had been staying, living, growing up in Sydney his whole life, barely leaving the town to visit some family a few miles away.

_Stop at PORT AUGUSTA_

Port Augusta was a little city compared to the hugeness and the constant agitation of the city of Sydney. He would have loved to stay there and take a look but, it was almost midnight and he had to wake up early the following day if he wanted to make it on time. While he lied down in the back-seat of his car, he couldn't quite find his way to dive into sweet dreams. After tossing and turning for a few minutes he decided to just go out and his feet led him to the shore. It was nothing like Sydney. He felt like he was hearing the sound of the sea for the first time and, his dark thoughts, which were so persistent, especially at night, seemed to finally let go of him. The waves crashing seemed to ease him as he breathed to its rhythm.

_Day 2:_

_7am to 8pm (and more)_

A nightmare woke him up. He was drowning, some force pulling him _deeper and deeper,_ no matter how much strength he put in going to the surface again. It felt like he had been drowning for a long time now, almost all his life but, even more so in the last couple of years. He quickly looked around him, feeling completely lost for half a second as he became more aware of his surrounding. A deep breath left his mouth as he realised that he had fallen asleep right in front of the sea, the dawn slowly breaking to his left. His breath followed the shore again and he stood up, all of sudden, running to his car. It looked like he was trying to leave something behind him, _running from_ something that always seemed to find its way back to him, _begging to stay_.

He slowly caught his breath, both of his hands on the wheel, looking down at his lap. He didn't dare to look outside, too afraid to see a ghost from the past or worse, _the demons_. He took a glance at his phone to check the time – he had left everything in his car since falling asleep facing the shore wasn't planned – it showed 7:30am.

He was a little late from his schedule but, he told himself that he'd just stop a little less and drive a little more during the ride. Now that he was leaving Port Augusta, he saw some people running, taking their dogs for a walk or simply going to work. He never looked back, he just had to _stay true to north_ from now on, and until the end of the day, into the Northern Territory.

The road was supposed to be shorter on this second day but, due to the lack of sleep he had, the Australian young adult felt like it was never going to end. But finally, he could see it. Like a _strong vision_ but, this time, for real. He knew the sun would be leaving soon so he accelerated a little, almost waking up after feeling like he had been _asleep for so long_.

It only took him two more hours to finally be at its base, stopping the car, taking a deep breath. He was here. He stepped out of his old green car and closed the door behind him, his backpack on both his shoulders. There wasn't too many people around him and he thought that it would only make this moment better.

He felt like he was facing the _edge of the world_ which only took him an hour and a half to climb. Once he was more than 300 meters high above the ground, out of breath, he took a 360° look around him. Two words came to his mind as he was catching his breath: _red desert_. He was surrounded by it. He smiled. Even more than a little less than 48 hours ago, when he left for this huge journey. He almost had tears in his eyes, breathless in front of the beauty his country had to offer. He was far from home, _so far away_ but, as he kept on looking all around, facing this colour red, again, he felt like he had _been asleep for so long_. The _strong visions_ he had experienced lately, more in this previous year than all of his life before seemed to finally let go of him. He was doing this for himself, because _he was the only one who could do this for him_ with the help of what he had heard or seemed to be hearing in the back of his mind a few weeks ago. _He had heard what they had been saying_. And now they were back but, they were more gentle. “W _on't you leave all your fears at the edge of the world?”_ they told him. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and _it doesn't take too long_ before a tear escape his left eye, still smiling as his tensed shoulders relaxed for the first time after what felt like years and years. No one was _begging to stay_ anymore. He was finally alone in a _twilight moment_ as something as been _healed and replaced_ while he was on what seemed to be the _edge of the world_.

He was finally free, no one begging him to stay with him, alone in this red desert, so far away from everything he had ever known. And, definitely leaving his drownings, his visions, the voices in his mind, his fears, his ghosts, his demons at the edge of the world.

He _felt_ the beauty, the love, the blessing that all this journey had brought to him, healing him in aspects he never would have suspected, changing him, knowing he would return home not the same man.

The old teenager was now free of his sorrow, pain and terrors and, he was returning home as a full grown adult.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, obviously the boy went to Uluru in the Northern Territory of Australia and (also obviously?) I thought of Ashton while writing it but it could be any of them really.


End file.
